Dine at the temple

Nyonya laksa ($10.80)

PHOTO: Chong Wen Ge cafe

If you have friends visiting from out of town, take them to the Chong Wen Ge Cafe in Telok Ayer Street and wow them with a taste of local cuisine and some nuggets of Singapore history.

The cafe is located on the grounds of the heritage Thian Hock Keng Hokkien temple.

The national monument was built in 1839 and is one of Singapore's oldest temples.

The tabletops are adorned with pretty Peranakan tiles, which are not only great conversation starters about Singapore culture, but are also great for Instagram-worthy food photos.

While the cafe serves dishes such as chicken curry with rice ($10.80), mee siam ($7.80) and satay bee hoon ($10.80), as well as otah otah ($1.50), the one dish to try here is the Nyonya laksa ($10.80, above).

The rich, coconutty gravy has a good balance of flavours and just the right amount of spice.

I also like the achar ($3) - it reminds me of the homemade achar my family would receive over Chinese New Year.

For dessert, the cafe sells kueh such as kueh dadar, ondeh ondeh and kueh salat ($1.50 a piece, or $5.50 for four).

These desserts are so popular that they usually sell out by mid-afternoon.

WHERE: Chong Wen Ge Cafe, 168 Telok Ayer Street MRT: Telok Ayer

OPEN: 10am to 6pm daily

TEL: 9168-3208

INFO: www.facebook.com/ chongwengecafe

This article was first published on Mar 24, 2017.
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